Echoes of the Soul
by Asigl
Summary: A mysterious girl arrives at the city of New Alcohol, setting off a reaction of events as she tries to find not just her name, but her past as well. An enigmatic guardian and guide shows her the path, but to what end, as the heart she never knew she had is forced to deal with emotions she never wanted. Sequel to Heart Light Your Way.
1. Welcome to New Alcohol

_General Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, or even Jing:King of bandits, just the OC that I create._

**_Welcome to Act 2 of the Calling of our Hearts...story...thing...I don't know._**

**_If you haven't read Heart Light Your Way, then I recommend reading it first or you won't understand later on._**

**_Please enjoy the story and leave reviews to let me know what's up._**

_Asigl_

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><p><em>Much of <em>**_my_**_** life** has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge._

_That knowledge has **guarded this world** well. Not a soul doubts that._

_I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. **But** though **I** am called a sage, there are things I **do not understand**._

_I believe _**_darkness_** **_sleeps_**_ in every_**_ heart_**_, no matter how _**_pure_**_. Given the _**_chance_**_, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. _**_I_**_** have** wit**n**essed i**t** many **time**s._

_D**a**rkness...Darkness of the _**_heart_**_. How _**_is_**_ it _**_born_**_?_

_How does it come to affect us so?_

_As ruler of this world, I must _**_find_**_ the _**_answers_**_. I must find them _**_before_**_ the world is _**_lost to_**_ those taken by the _**_darkness._**

_-**A**nsem The Wise_

**_Kingdom Hearts_**

**_Calling of our Hearts_**

**_Act 2:_**

**_Echoes of the Soul_**

_~ H~ey don't-cha know, don't-cha know?_

_~ H~ey Cant you hear, can't you hear?_

_~ Wh~oa it's-a coming, it's-a coming_

_~ Wh~oa That place we all hold dear~_

The tiny radio spat out the words next to his ear as the man listened, bobbin his head along. Bottles of various alcohols littered the ground around him as he walked down the road, a moment later his shoulder collided with another and he stumbled.

"Whoa there!" He turned to the person he bumped into and rubbed his shoulder, "Sorry bout that miss, wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright." She answered looking around. He gave a low whistle and looked her over, simple black pants, a pale fur pelt hung over her left leg. His eyes traveled up her dark blue button down shirt left untuck, hidden under a white coat that stopped just before her knees, and met with a frown.

"Whoa pretty miss, sorry bout that! Just checkin out the newest bottle baby, sorry if I offended." The man took a step back, his own jacket clanking with bits of odds and ends.

"Bottle baby?" He raised an eyebrow at this and scratched at his head from under a faded top hat that had seen better days.

"Ya don't know?" She shook her head and he shrugged, "Guess thats alright, take a look over there."

He pointed down the bottle strewn road to the small town ahead, it was bustling with various types of people doing all manner of strange things. Not one of them was apparently doing the same thing however. "That there is 'New Alcohol Bottle City'_, _was made up by the bottle babies, thats what they call folks like us round here. You see, around these mountains theres a new bottle of booze being dug up every day, rare things that never bothered to age or be made in mass quantities, much like these people."

The girl looked over the town, and he took note of her again, fur lined the collar of her coat, but was mostly covered by the unruly mass of dirty blond hair that spiked out behind past her shoulders. Her slightly olive-tan skin seemed to glow from the lights in the city, and around her neck was a black choker with a small charm dangling from it, a fang in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"So this is a place for unique people then?" The man gave a lopsided grin, shrugging his shoulders.

"You could say that, they ain't got a past, but that doesn't really stop em."

"I see." The man scratched at the stubble on his chin and yawned slightly.

"Well I best be going, I have a country to rule after all. Hey never caught your name, I would give ya mine, but I sold it for the deed ya see." He pulled out a postcard with the words '_Costa Del Sol_' written on it, a picture of a nice beach and cabana on it with a waving woman.

"My name…" He met her eyes, the most brilliant amethyst eyes he had ever seen. "I'm afraid even I don't know it, much like my past, I have no name to speak of…"

The man frowned and scratched his head.

"Well, then I guess you may as well head into town. You may find what you're looking for there." He turned to walk away and waved over his shoulder as he went, calling back, "And if ya get bored, you can come visit me at my kingdom ok!"

The girl gave a nod before she turned away, and strode into the town of forgotten pasts, and new futures. The man watched her go then turned away, holding up his post card, he had a kingdom to find.

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><p>The streets were bustling with movement as people went from place to place, a rotund man that seemed to have a megaphone attached to his arm was shouting at people, telling them the deals of the day. As she walked through the crowd, the girl glanced from shop to shop that lined the market. People selling masks, people selling canned goods of questionable fare, even a person simply selling words that seemed to make no sense. It was all quite silly in some sort of way, as if they were trying to sell meaning to the people who had none.<p>

"Meaning of life! Get yer meaning of life right here you bottle babies!" The girl paused a moment then shook her head, continuing on her way, well she would have if something didn't trip her up.

"Sorry bout that honey, didn't see you there." A young voice spoke and she pulled herself up off the ground. A young man with dirty blond hair, slightly puffed pants and waist coat, with attached…tail… held out a hand to help her up. "First time to New Alcohol?"

"Yes.." She replied, ignoring the hand and dusting herself off, he shrugged it off and rolled back on his heels. He was shorter than her by a few heads, at least thats what she thought the measurement was, there was a man measuring people with talking heads on the corner.

"Thought so, haven't seen you round before, plus you seemed a tad lost there hun." The young man hooked a thumb in his direction, "Names Zidane, how bout you?"

"I don't have one." Zidane let out a moan of annoyance, slapping a hand to his forehead as she stared at him blankly.

"Don't have one? Man, don't tell me that stupid rabbit conned you out of your name for some postcard… seriously, people nowadays…" The girl looked at him with a frown, he scratched his head and muttered to himself for a moment.

"I wasn't taken advantage of, I simply don't have a name…at least I don't think I do, I'm.." Zidane looked her over, and she felt the urge to hit him in the head as his eyes lingered on her chest for a second longer than she wanted, she promptly did so after a moment.

"OW! Hey what was that for!?"

"My eyes are up here monkey boy…" Zidane rubbed his head where she had hit him and gave a groan, backing away slightly from her.

"Come on lady, nothin wrong with appreciation now is there?"

"I'd prefer it not come from perverted children." She took a step towards him, wanting to hit him again for some reason because of his attitude. Zidane slipped around her, seeming to dance away.

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a real hit with the ladies! They can't get enough of me." He gave a grin and posed with his hand on his hip. The girl stared at him blankly for a moment, then turned and began walking away, leaving him stuttering, "W-WAIT! Hey!"

Zidane followed after her, bouncing over a large man carrying a coffin on his back and a woman that seemed to have on three or four dresses at the same time.

"Hold on a sec lady!" The girl sighed and turned down a side street that wasn't as populated, stopping next to a wall littered with graffiti of various cartooned shapes.

"You are too persistent for your own good." Zidane laughed a bit, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Hey look, I'm sorry bout before alright?" He held out a hand again. "Lets forget all that and try again, what do you say Sister?"

The girl sighed, placing a hand on her head. It seemed to hurt since she began feeling upset at Zidane, and after a moment begrudgingly shook his hand. "There we go! Now then, how about we get you a name?"

"How do I know you won't con me out of something?" She deadpanned, he pointed a finger at her rather childishly.

"Hey now, I may be a thief, but I ain't like that rabbit, I'll help you free of charge. Think of it as a welcoming present from Tantalus." The girl raised an eyebrow and Zidane took note that it was fairly blond.

"Why would a group of thieves help someone like me?"

"Call it incentive, maybe one day you can return the favor ya know?" Zidane led her along down the alleyways to a large lake, in the middle of it was a ship with propellers atop it's masts, the bow held a siren holding an orb. The side was open and it looked as though a theater group was preforming from the built in stage to the people around. A comedy no doubt from the laughs of the crowd. "By the way, I hear the color of a women's eyebrows means that-"

"Finish that sentence, and I swear…" The girl hovered her fist over his head as she let the threat hang in the air, he made a squeaking sound and hopped out of the way.

"Chill sister I was joking! Come on, let me show you inside." Zidane walked past the crowd along a side entrance. The girl looked up at the ship again, and back at the crowd who laughed at one of the actors getting slapped in the face by an attractive young lady. She held her head again, the laughing crowd seemed to fade away for a moment to show laughing children running around a large tree. A shout called her back to the present and she shook her head lightly, turning away to follow the tailed youth into the ship.

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><p>"You Friggan Moron!" A resounding <strong>WHACK<strong> on Zidane's head was enough for the girl to consider leaving already. He had introduced her to his guild master, a large pig like man named Baku, and then proceeded to watch as he hastily explained her situation to the boss while a few of his friends looked on. "What the hell gave you the idea that we work for free!?"

"Hey easy old man! Its only a name, I'm sure we can find it easy enough!" Baku crossed his thick arms over his chest with a _'Humph'_ and muttered something before turning to the girl.

"Well girly, sounds like you got us in a jam, thanks to this buffoon we have to help you on principle of it all. Matter of pride and all that." Several of the members were already messing with Zidane, although it looked rough, they all bore a smile about it.

"I didn't ask for it if that makes a difference." He laughed heartily at her, a hand on his stomach and twinkle in his eye. For a group of thieves, it didn't seem like they were so bad or uptight as he made it out to be.

"Naw don't be like that, I understand how you young folk can get without a name, why do you think I named this little shit personally! BWAHAHAHA!" Baku smacked Zidane hard in the back, and after a few shouted insults and exchanging of blows, had him in a headlock under one arm. "Is that all ya got, eh!?"

"Come off it you old fart! Lemme go I'll show you!" The girl watched as the two exchanged words and blows with smiles on their faces, the others seemed to egg them on and she was forgotten. As she watched she felt a pull in her chest, and absently put a hand over it, the familiar burn of a memory, warm and kind.

"I see they are at it again." Came a deep voice from behind her, she turned to see a man with spiked black hair dressed in a red cloak, under which was a dark brown almost black shirt, along with a pair of tight pants. A few belts wrapped around his waist, crossing over one another, a gun with three barrels resting in a side holster. A strange clawed golden gauntlet that rested on his arm completed most of the ensemble, aside from a matching red bandanna and simple boots. His crimson eyes turned to her, "You must be new."

"I guess?" He looked at her critically when a triumphant shout from Zidane drew their attention, he was hanging by his tail from a cargo hook in the ceiling and making faces at the boss. Baku yelled at Zidane as he tried to grab at him, missing as the youth hopped from the hook to a roof beam, he shook his fist threateningly.

"You cheeky little shit! Vincent! Where the hell have you been? Find what you need eh?" Baku turned back to the two as he noticed the man. Vincent shook his head and Baku scratched at his chin,his eyes falling back to the girl. "No? Hmmn, guess there is one place we could try. Oh yea, that name…I'll call you…"

"No way! You can't just give her a name like that!" Shouted a girl who was sitting on a box, Zidane jumped down from the hook.

"Ruby's right old man, you can't just give her a name. That defeats the purpose of finding it!" Baku grumbled and turned away.

"Fine, fine, you figure it out then, I have an airship to pilot." He started shouting at the others and they scrambled out of the room, his loud voice carrying out through the walls as he left the room.

"You lack a name?" Zidane was arguing with the girl Ruby about something as Vincent spoke to her, she turned to him and shook her head.

"I don't remember anything other than walking into the city, no." He gazed at her with a critical eye before turning away, making to follow after Baku.

"You will need to wake up first then before that can happen." The girl stared after Vincent, wondering about the words as eventually the two teens in front of her dragged her along on a ship wide tour. Her head had ceased hurting, but now a feeling in her stomach made her even more confused, and yet, she followed Zidane and Ruby as they gave her the grand tour of their airship, the Prima Vista.


	2. Falling into the Heart

_General Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy, just my OCs._

**_Time for chapter 2! I have some of this pre written from before, only minor alterations were needed to make it fit more within plot purposes, but it lets me write a little faster. Granted I didn't write that much before I went back to rewrite HLYW, so fun times._**

**_As you no doubt have noticed, I seemed to have pulled a KH2 opening on you all...or have I? Only time will tell, in the mean time I hope you enjoy everything I have to offer in terms of story. I also hope that those of you who came and read HLYW are here again with me, I noticed at least one was~ (Yay!)_**

**_Also, this story won't follow the general theme of go to world and explore it within several chapters. Just a warning as I intend to take a more fluid approach and keep things ever in motion as it were._**

**_Please _****_leave some reviews if you like it!_**

_Asigl_

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><p><em>Much <em>**_time_**_ has passed since I _**_left_**_ the home of my youth _**_behind_**_, and in the myriad worlds I have visited, I have gained much knowledge. _

_On these pages, _**_I _**_intend to record a portion of that knowledge, and _**_put_**_ the course of _**_my life_** **_to_**_ paper._

_Upon reflection, my life underwent the most _**_considerable_**_ sea-_**_change_**_ when I arrived at that place. _

_Yes, it began when _**_I found_**_ a Master, and _**_another_**_ I would later call _**_my_**_ brother—when I found a _**_new home_**_._

**_Then_**_ there was _**_the Keyblade_**_. _

_For what purpose was it begotten, and by whom? _

_During _**_my training_**_ as one of its wielders, the precepts _**_offered_**_ a clear _**_answer_**_: the Keyblade existed so that _**_we_**_ who _**_watched_**_ over _**_the light_**_ could _**_protect _**_the world from _**_the shadows_**_._

**_But _**_was that the TRUE answer? _

_Could there not be _**_more_**_ to it _**_than that_**_? _

_My heart sought knowledge, and so _**_I_**_ sometimes visited other worlds—though such travel was forbidden unless duty required—and _**_found what my heart sought_**_._

_-Xehanort's Report: _**_F_**_ile I_

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><p>Mist flowed across the window as she looked out it. The airship had been traveling for three weeks since leaving New Alcohol, and so far everything had become a routine. Zidane and the other youths had taken to calling her 'Sister', and with every port they had stopped at, took the time to help find someone who may have known her. No one did. The soft sound of the mist blowing by was interrupted by the slight clinking of metal behind her, followed by his voice.<p>

"Can you see them?" She turned to Vincent as he appeared from the lower deck. He had taken it upon himself to shadow her from time to time, often saying enigmatic phrases or questions that would cause her to feel. Even still, she felt comfortable around him, safe. Often she wondered why he would speak to her of things, but did not mind, even if it proved to be frustrating at times. This question was nothing less than confusing to her as well, and she frowned at him. He took her silence as it was and stepped up next to her, gesturing out the window with his clawed gauntlet. "The mist we travel on, it carries memories, echoes of those who have fallen."

"I thought the mist bore nothing but monsters." Vincent shook his head, his crimson gaze falling upon her amethyst, just a slight hair above her as he looked down to her.

"The mist holds regret, this regret turns to rage, it is then given form." He gave her a look and she sighed looking away from him out the window. Heat seemed to come to her cheeks, and her head hurt. She was feeling, what had Ruby called it…?

Upset. Upset that Vincent should think she held some connection like that.

"I'm not like that." She seemed to spit out agitatedly, Vincent simply stared at her. So they stood in silence save for the faint hiss that came with travel. A rumble in his throat drew her attention back to him.

"No, you are something more than an echo." She looked back at him, but he was already staring out the window again. Seconds, then minutes passed as moments. A tense silence between the two, and in her mind she longed for him to say something more.

"You remind me of someone." He said finally after a while, as though answering the unspoken question she had meant to ask him. She waited for him to explain, but when he didn't she returned to her thoughts.

"Are you looking for them?" She asked after a few more moments, there was a strange feeling in her chest, it felt as though her heart was being squeezed ever so slightly.

"No." The feeling eased, she felt relief as the silence between the two stretched on before movement outside the ship caught both of their attention. A massive reptilian shape swam into view, riding the mist, its bright yellow eye blinked at them before it pulled away and vanished. They exchanged a look before the ship rocked from an impact, an alarm blaring as the warning lights started to flash.

_"_**_Listen up kiddies, this is your captain speaking, hold onto something and start praying real hard! More Power!"_**

Baku's voice echoed over the intercom system, his agitated bellowing of a voice shouting various orders through the ship. Another crash as the ship rocked again, then a roar echoed through the hull around them as a loud cracking sound was heard.

**_"_****_Damnit! Something's On Top Deck! Someone git out there and kill whatever's holding us back!"_**

They moved quickly, Vincent jumping up the stairs almost three at a time as she followed. They managed to weave past the passengers who were rushing back to several safe rooms that were prepared by the thieves, and burst through the doors leading out to the top deck. Large claws were hooked around the railing, Vincent jumping up to the rigging as he took to shooting at them with his gun to attempt to dislodge them. The girl's short jacket bellowed behind her as she leapt the center railing and joined Zidane who was fighting several scale shaped monsters on deck with Marcus and Blank, landing onto of one with a diving kick. It vanished into mist and several more flew in from the side, embedding themselves into the deck before sprouting legs and crawling out to attack.

"Good to see you sister!" Marcus shouted, cleaving one of the monsters in two with his broadsword. It vanished into mist as well, another stepping up to take it's place as he blocked it's claw with his sword.

"How bad is it?" She lashed out with her leg, tripping one of the scale monsters before driving her fist into it's head. He pointed up at a large tentacle that was wrapped along the end of the ship, the scales along it flittering wildly as some came loose and turned into the monsters.

"We need to get that thing off, it's what's holding us back. Damn thing is persistent though." He took a moment as they had to dispatch more monsters. " Keeps leaving us presents."

She threw another beast away into the mast, watching it disintegrate into mist as Zidane hopped over Marcus, getting a boost as he leapt off Marcus' broadsword into a pack of the creatures. The creatures turned as he slashed at one before running off, following him angrily with loud screeches.

"I don't even remember it being my birthday!" Zidane shouted as he ran between several of them, drawing their attention as gunshots picked them off from above. Blank rolled in next to them cutting several along the way.

"Zidane and I can distract the little ones, Marcus we need to get those claws off as well or it will be a moot point just taking out the tail." Marcus turned to him with a confused look, gesturing to the large appendages wrapped around the ship further up deck with his sword.

"And how the hell you know it's a tail?" Blank shot him an amused look, Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to call it a-"

"Never mind! Alright, Sister you take the big bad ugly **_tail_**, Vincent and me will deal with the claws. You hear me Vincent?" Marcus cut Blank off as he shouted up at the gun wielding man, the response was a sudden increase in fire at the claw on the port side of the ship. She nodded and jumped onto one of the creatures, using it and several others as stepping stones to jump to the far end of the deck before they were quickly dispatched by Blank and Zidane.

She landed in a three point stance after jumping the railing in the back and ran forward, grunting as she tackled the tail with her shoulder before leaping back as a few of the scales swiped at her from their spots attached to the tail. A burning sensation filled her then, starting at her heart as it seemed to arc across her body. The fur at her neck stood on end as lightning started to dance along her right arm, a cool wind coming from her left as the sleeve there was slowly frosting over with an etching of blue glyphs. A small grin came to her face as a rush came to her chest. Excitement. The girl charged forward again with a cry on her lips, unleashing a flurry of blows into the tail of the monster before her. The lightning arced from her arm along the side of the larger monster, burning it's way through the smaller scale monsters, shattering them into mist. As the smaller monsters gave way to the softer underside of the host creature, the frost from her left arm seemed simply to leave a small touch of frost burn. That is until it erupted in a blossoming flower of ice shards that the girl then kicked or punched further into the soft flesh. The shadow already upon her before she realized it.

A roar of rage and pain erupted around them as Marcus brought his blade down on the claw he had been working on, watching as it severed and vanished into mist, the ship tilting dangerously to the port as the starboard anchor was cut free. He heard Zidane call out and watched as the tail was flung off the edge because of the sudden tilt, along with another object.

"SISTER!" He watched as she was flung over with the tail, a flash of red from above and Vincent had followed, the claw on the port side tearing off a chunk of the ship as the weight behind it pulled it away with a loud crack. He rolled over and looked back over the edge, spotting Vincent's red cloak before it vanished with the claw in the mist. Then he felt the Prima Vista accelerate, quickly pulling away from the falling forms.

* * *

><p>She felt the mist rushing past her as she fell, disoriented from the blow the creature had given her as they were pitched from the ship. The sound of air rushing by suddenly stopped and she looked up to see the cloud of mist above her, darkness surrounding her as it faded away. She twisted around to try to get some control over her fall and a bright light shone up from below her.<p>

A vague thought crossed her mind as she took in the massive stained glass window ahead of her. A picture of a girl, her eyes closed, lay in the middle. Chains attached to her arms and body bound her to two figures on either side. One bright in a pale white dress, the other dark and hidden within the shadows. But it was the center, cradled in her hands to her chest that drew the girl's eye the most, the golden outline of a heart. Other images lined around the central image, but the window came up too fast, forcing her to curl instinctively as she crashed through the shadow in the heart.

_'__This is….familiar….'_

She grunted as the shards from the window cut at her cheek, another window displaying the same image with a different tint to the background. And again, she fell into the heart.

_'__I know you…'_

The shards of the windows rained down around her, seeming to slow in time as images danced upon them of the girl in the window. Long dark brown hair, dark olive skin, silver eyes. Other images flashed as well; two men standing back to back as each were shaded in either light or darkness, a figure with a white skull shaped mask and an old man with a long beard, the smiling faces of two young men who seemed as brothers, a man with a burning sword… and a young blue haired woman… Another window came up below her, the shards shattered into it first, and she followed close behind. Straight through the heart.

_' __-enri- …I know you!'_

Her thoughts screamed as the window below her shattered like the rest, her body continuing to fall before she abruptly landed on a hard stone a moment later. Glass echoed around her like music, her head pounding hard as the soft symphony echoed mutely around her. An eye cracked open to the sight before her. A shard about the size of her forearm lay next to her, glowing softly. Small shards slid off her as she pushed herself up carefully, looking down at the shard. The image was blurred, out of focus, yet slowly a golden thread wove itself up from the darkness.

_…__.Rein…_

The word echoed in her mind as it formed from the thread. It felt familiar, it felt right, it felt hers. Voices echoed around her, whispers in the darkness around the stone she lay. She heard the sound of chains clinking together, the platform she was on seemed to be suspended by chains, five chains, each connected around the stone platform, rising up into the darkness. Large shards of glass rested embedded in the stone before each the chains, the images upon them dark, save for one.

The image of a large castle over a multi tiered fountain was set in the triangle shaped shard much like a stained glass portrait. It was shaded in various colors of blue except for the bottom, where small black creatures with golden eyes stood. Something lay behind the creatures, and she moved forward, making out the shape of what looked to be a key.

_'The way is set before you…'_

Rein spun to the voice, another girl stood beside a far panel that was cloaked in darkness. The only thing she could see was the crystal blue of the girl's eyes as they tilted along with her head.

_'…We are always connected…our hearts as one…'_

Another voice hidden from view in the darkness came low from another darkened panel, soft amber eyes piercing the darkness from the male figure. The chains connecting the platform she stood upon swayed, the sound coming as a small chime instead of the loud clanking of how they should. Rein's amethyst eyes beheld then a third figure, resting against the second to last panel. The figure of a young girl, sitting against the glass in slumber shouldn't have drew her eye, yet it was something in her chest that did…

The pull of her heart.

A wave of vertigo rushed over her suddenly, leaving Rein lightheaded as she felt her body fall back again. Vision blurred in an out of focus as she fell to her side, the blue eyed girl holding out her hand.

_'Find us…find her… find m-'_

* * *

><p>Her head throbbed as the crackling of a fire came to her ears, the heat upon her face as she made a sound of annoyance and rolled away. Darkness met her eyes, giving way to a darkened landscape as Rein sat up to face it.<p>

"You're awake." Hidden with the fire's light obscuring her vision sat Vincent, crouched upon a rock opposite from her as he watched her with his crimson eyes, unflinching. She looked away, taking in the valley before her as her gaze drew up to the sky. The stars twinkled above, broken by a line of silver as though someone took a paintbrush and drew it lazily across the sky. "The Prima Vista is gone, they managed to escape once the creature was broken away."

" I see… What happened to bring us down here?"

"You fell, then awoke…if only a little." Vincent answered enigmatically causing her to frown and look away. Rein drew her legs up as she tried to remember what happened, the fight against the monster, the taste of magic. The fall…

"Rein…" Vincent looked up at her and she met his eyes from across the fire. " My name…is Rein. I think…"

Vincent stared at her for several moments, his face unreadable before he dipped his head in what small movement Rein had come to learn as acknowledgment. Warmth blossomed in her chest and she turned away again, the world once again falling to silence save for the crackling of the fire. Until a sound came, as the flutter of small wingbeats from across the fire. A small bobble of light appeared then behind Vincent, making it's way up and around him as a small winged creature carrying a bundle of sticks that seemed as big as it was dropped it's cargo near the fire.

"Kupo, There we go!"

"I told you that you didn't need to find more." Vincent said firmly, the creature bobbing in the air as it shook it's little arm at him. It was all rather adorable seeing this ball of floating fluff shake a small fist at Vincent, at least Rein thought it was making a fist.

"Well you weren't going to get any more anytime soon, Kupo! I had to find something at least so the fire doesn't go out, kupo." The small creature turned to look at Rein, noticing she was staring at it. Rein watched as it jumped, or rather floated higher for a moment as it let out a small squeak. Vincent gave a sigh as he put his fingers to his forehead as the moogle floated over towards Rein, circling her with small squeaks. " Kupo! You didn't tell me that she woke up! My name is Mog, Kupo! How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you. Where exactly did you come from?" Mog gave a little twirl in the air before pointing down in one direction of the valley.

"Theres a small village over that way, Kupo! Me and a friend live there by ourselves."

"Why didn't you go back to the village yet?" Mog's head bobble drooped slightly as he tapped his paws together, floating lower to the ground.

"Kupo…It's scary in the dark. The darkness is full of all sorts of things that would find stray moogles like myself as a snack, kupo…" Rein looked to Vincent, he simply added another few sticks to the fire, stoking it with another he had in his clawed gauntlet without looking up at her. Rein shook her head, scooting back against a nearby rock as she laid back against it.

"Well then we will wait until it's light again." Rein looked to Mog, watching him look around at the darkness then back to her, then to Vincent, and back to her. She smiled softly, holding out her hands as Mog squeaked in delight and floated quickly over to her, snuggling against her chest. Rein closed her eyes, petting Mog gently on the head as a strange noise came from Vincent. Amethyst eyes snapped open in irritation as crimson stared back with a small hint of amusement from behind his high collar. Rein gave a small huff and turned away, holding Mog to her chest as she drew her coat about them, she would find a way to get back at him in the morning. Once they found their way to that city she saw, bathed in radiant light.


End file.
